


Choice and Belief

by Starshaker



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alive Hale Family, Angst with a Happy Ending, Arranged Marriage, F/M, Full Shift Werewolves, Gen, Getting to Know Each Other, M/M, Magical Stiles Stilinski, Scott McCall & Stiles Stilinski Friendship, Spark Stiles Stilinski
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-29
Updated: 2018-04-29
Packaged: 2019-04-29 16:40:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,687
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14476851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starshaker/pseuds/Starshaker
Summary: Stiles has been hiding his spark for his whole life but with his dad lying in a hospital bed barely holding on, he has no choice but to reveal himself in an attempt to save him. But once he's revealed his spark he needs protection so he goes to the closest strongest pack he knows, the Hales. Talia knows how valuable a spark is to any supernatural, let alone a werewolf pack, but she needs Stiles to be tied to the pack in some way. A marriage of convenience is how she plans to have it and Stiles doesn't have many other choices but to accept.





	Choice and Belief

**Author's Note:**

  * For [StaciNadia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/StaciNadia/gifts).



Stiles pressed his hands to his Dad’s chest and stomach and willed his Dad to heal. He feared it might not be enough but forced himself to concentrate as the rolling fiery shards rose in his gut. His heart raced and he held his breath as a hot shiver coursed through him. He gasped for breath as the feeling dissipated and the next thing he heard was the heart monitor beside his Dad picking up it’s rhythm. The visible burns no longer showed over his arms and exposed skin. Stiles hit the call nurse button and in what seemed like an age Melissa arrived in the doorway.

“Stiles what is it?” She asked crossing the room towards him and glanced up the readings on the monitors behind him.

“You have to get a doctor to check him over again,” Stiles said quickly, "He’ll be better, a surprise recovery. I have to go.” He slung his backpack over one shoulder and hurried past her.

“Stiles, stop.” She said firmly and Stiles froze. Tears stung his eyes. 

“I’m sorry I can’t-. I have to go.” Stiles insisted. Melissa reached out a hand and turned him by his arm and held him at arm's length with both hands.

“Stiles I have a son of my own. I know when teenage boys are about to do something they’ll regret,” Melissa said. She rubbed her hand up and down his arm and then pulled him into a hug, “He’ll be alright.” She whispered, “You’ll be alright,”

“Thanks,” He said, “Can you get Scott to text me with how he’s doing?” He pulled out of the hug and adjusted the rucksack on his shoulder.

“Of course.” She said and nodded. Stiles turned towards the door, he couldn’t bear to see her expression shift to concern. He glanced over at his Dad and saw him start to move.

“I’ve got to go.” He said again and turned on his heel and headed for the lift. 

A desperate hope masquerading as magical belief meant that the lift was there waiting for him and took him down to the ground floor without stopping at any other floors. He was sure that as the lift doors opened on the ground floor all five people waiting for it met his eye. He kept his head down as he hurried through the reception foyer and down the steps to the parking lot. He fumbled to pull his keys from his pocket as he walked. He paused in his stride to unhook them from where they caught on a stray thread and when he looked up a woman stood into his path.

“That pulse. That energy in the air it was you.” She said. Her eyes glinted and Stiles tightened his grip on his keys 

“No. It wasn’t,” He said quickly before he realised his mistake by admitting to it.

“You’re something powerful aren't you,” She said and a twisted smile pulled at her lips and in the low streetlight her eyes glinted momentarily before her dark pupils stretched to fill the whites of her eyes.

“No, I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’ve got to go.” He yanked his keys free and tried to circle past her. She reached for him and he threw up a hand. She flew backwards and hit a car enough to leave a dent in the bodywork and she fell to the floor. Stiles ran from there to his car without looking back. His breath caught as a car ambled past behind him and then on to another space further down the aisle. 

As he backed out of the space he saw the woman who’d confronted him across the lot. She was helped along by someone else as she limped towards the main entrance of the hospital.In all of Stiles' luck, she didn't look up. Stiles cut through a red light on his way out of the Hospital anyway to keep a step ahead of anyone who might have thought to follow him. 

After that, Stiles kept his eyes on the road until he was out of town.

As soon as he was on the road out of Beacon hills he pushed harder on the accelerator. His eyes flicked from the dashboard clock to his rearview mirror every few seconds. He’d known where the Hale house turn off was for years now. His mum had told him when he was very small that if he’d ever need to use his Spark powers he’d need to find safety immediately, and the Hales would be his closest and safest place to go. 

Safer at least than being hunted down. The Hale pack had the numbers to protect him but he knew they’d want something in return. Blind hope kept him from heading straight for the highway as he reached the driveway entrance concealed amid the dense treeline that lined the road.

His jeep skidded to a halt in the driveway outside the house and as he switched off his engine he could feel his heartbeat racing in his ears. He tried to breathe through his fear, four counts in, four counts out. When he finally dared to look up it was to see half a dozen people circling the jeep. At least two of them had claws for fingernails. A movement in his rearview mirror made him glance up and another two people were approaching from behind.

“Oh God.” He said under his breath. His hands were shaking as he reached for the door handle and he stared determinedly at the dirt as he stepped out.

“I-I don’t...I,” He stuttered and then swallowed again. He looked up and shot a look to each of the werewolves in turn, “Please. I’m a Spark. I, I need protection.”

No-one replied.

“Please.” He said again.

“What’s your name?” Stiles startled and turned on the spot when he realised one of them stood only a few feet behind him.

“Stiles. Stiles Stilinski,” He said.

“Any relation to the sheriff,” Someone called out though he didn't catch which woman said it.

“Yeah. That’s my Dad.” Stiles turned to agree with them but could only glance between two people.

“Under our noses the whole time,” Stiles turned back to the man who spoke out. He seemed the least cautious, curious even as he peered at Stiles. He leant against the front of the jeep and stared at Stiles. He only glanced away when a younger woman circled Stiles’ jeep from the other side.

“He smells weird." She said. She glanced between the man leaning against the jeep and Stiles. 

“That’s the smell of very powerful magic, recently used.” The man said.

“I know what I am. I know I’d be valuable to your pack,” Stiles spoke out as he forced his nerves down.

“Would you like to come inside?” Stiles looked up to the porch and saw the alpha stood there proudly. Talia Hale. He’d been sure to memorise her face since his mom had died. He'd made a conscious effort to avoid her around town in case she could have sniffed out whatever thoughtless magic he'd used recently. Though now he sought her approval and help he wished he'd made some sort of introduction sooner.

Stiles nodded and shot a look behind himself to the other werewolves before he followed the Talia inside. As he passed her she halted the rest of the encroaching pack members in their track with a single raised hand. “Double up patrols, check the perimetre. We’ll need to be vigilant as long as he’s here.”

“I don’t think anyone followed me,” Stiles said.

“They will.” Talia said firmly, “But that’s why you’re here.”

 

As Talia ushered him into the hallway he could hear hurried steps on the floorboards of the floor above. As they passed the bottom of the stairs two young voices giggled and shushed each other. Stiles glanced up at the sound and saw two girls, one no more than ten and the other clearly several years younger. Both peered down at him from between railings on the first floor bannister.

“Back to your room, both of you,” Talia snapped at both of them. One shrank back scolded, but the other stepped out into full view and sat on the top step. 

“Is he really a spark Mom?” She asked.

“That’s none of your business, back to your room,” Talia said and waved her off. The girl huffed and shot a look up and down Stiles.

“He doesn’t look like the pictures,” The other girl said quietly as she peered cautiously around the bannister.

“He’s not going to glow, stupid.” The braver girl told her.

“Cora!” Talia snapped. Stiles flinched as he caught the flash of her red eyes.

“Room now. ” Talia said firmly.

The girls shrank back and Talia waited a door slammed shut before she turned back to Stiles.

“Just through here please.” She waved Stiles down a short corridor to a room at the end. The room was relatively small, used as a study by the looks of it; walls lined with shelves and a dark wooden desk eight foot across set in front of a window overlooking the backyard. Stiles stepped towards the window. The yard was really no more than a dusty clearing a hundred yards square that merges with the barely tamed woodland beyond it.

“You will be safe here.” Talia said, “This pack is one of the oldest in the country, and we already protect the several significant magical sites and artefacts,” Talia said as she circled the desk by the window and sat facing Stiles. 

“Uh I know, well, I know you're a big pack and the Nemeton is how Beacon Hills got its name so...” Stiles turned back to Talia and ran a hand over the back of his neck, “I kind of never thought I’d have to do this,”

“What do you expect us to do with you, besides protect you from all manner of supernatural creatures who will be tracking you down as we speak?” Talia asked. 

“I know you’ll want me to do things for you, for your pack. I know I’m not really in a position to bargain for much but, but I’d like to enter into a contract with you. My spark abilities at your pack’s disposal for ongoing protection,”

“You’re young, untrained, and I can’t trust you not to turn on my pack,” Talia said plainly.

“But you can’t risk me going to someone else or another pack,” Stiles said in return. For all the times he'd been scared his secret had been revealed before he'd practically scripted this conversation a hundred times over. Talia was admittedly more intimidating in person but she ultimately had two options; kill him or protect him. the former option would mean the disposal of a body and the loss of a potential ally.

“I hope you understand that I do not appreciate the position you’ve put me in.” Talia said

“I haven’t got a choice right now.” Stiles said, “I’m seeking asylum.”

“That would be exactly my point.”

“Maybe I should’ve called first.” Stiles said lightly. Talia didn’t seem impressed with his attempted humour.

“We’ll keep you safe until I can make a decision about you. I’ll have someone stay with you all the time and I would like you to give my brother a full account of your powers,” She said, her expression gave nothing away, “In the meantime, you look like you need to eat and sleep. I hope you aren’t a picky eater,”

“Not in the slightest.” Stiles said, the words overtaking him before he thought about it. 

“Good.” She said with a single sharp nod. She pulled a cellphone from her pocket and typed quickly before pocketing it again. “Wait here until my brother fetches you.”

“Uh, yeah. Sure,” Stiles nodded. Talia left the room without a look back but he was grateful that he didn’t hear any lock on the door. He sank into the chair on the opposite side of the desk, tipped his head back and shut his eyes. His thoughts tripped back to his Dad, he reached for his phone only to find it not in his pocket. His eyes shot open as he patted down every pocket in his hoodie and jeans. He tried to think back to figure out if it’d be in his bag in his jeep, it hadn’t been long, Scott or Melissa probably hadn’t texted him yet about his Dad anyway. His eyes landed on the landline phone on the corner of the bookshelf behind the desk. 

He shoved himself up quickly and was already dialling Scott’s number from memory when the door opened behind him.

“What are you doing?” The person demanded. Stiles turned on the spot slowly, half expecting to be tackled for possession fo the phone. The person stood in the doorway was only a little older than himself, short dark hair and Talia's features. 

“My Dad’s in hospital. I want to ask someone to go and check up on him,” He said

“I don’t think my Mom wanted you using the phone,” The man said. Stiles held up both hands in mock surrender and slowly reached to set the phone back in it’s charging dock.

“I thought her brother was coming to fetch me,” Stiles said

“Peter’s trying to find a book in the library. I’m Derek,” He said, “Mom said you’d want something to eat?”

“I haven’t eaten anything that didn’t come out of a hospital vending machine in about a week,” Stiles said. He caught the quickly concealed wince in Derek's expression and Stiles averted his eyes to the floor so he didn't see any more expressions of pity made his way.

“Your Dad’s been in there that long?” Derek asked. "‘M sorry,”

“Yeah well, I think I helped,” Stiles said quickly, and he waved a hand through the air. Derek followed the moment warily. 

“Or made it worse. I couldn’t stick around to find out if he was going to wake up,”

“If you’re a Spark that’s what you do isn’t it. Save people?” Derek said. His eyebrows pressed down into a slight frown.

“I don’t know. Never met another spark before," Stiles said and shrugged half-heartedly, "Have you?”

“No, but I’ve read about you.”

“How flattering.” Stiles deadpanned.

“Uh, the kitchen’s this way,” Derek said and held the door open for him. 

Derek found a lasagne in the freezer and set it to heat up in the microwave.

“One of Dad’s lunches for work. He won’t mind.” He said as he nodded back towards the microwave.

“Thanks.” Stiles said as he took a seat at the breakfast bar, “You’re only a few years older than me right, I think I remember you in highschool,”

“I don’t remember you,” Derek said and cast a look over his shoudler

“Yeah, no. Well, it figures,” Stiles said and shrugged, “What are you doing now then. College? working?”

“You want to know about me?”

“Honestly I’d prefer a conversation about anything. I could start talking to you about the history of male circumcision,” Stiles suggested .

“You know enough to hold a conversation on that?” The microwave dinged and Derek turned to fetch the plate.

“Dude, I wrote an economics essay on that.” Stiles said and grinned when Derek looked over his shoulder and narrowed his eyes.

“How could male circumcision possibly relate to economics?” Derek asked. He turned back to Stiles and pushed the plate halfway across the counter towards him. 

“I’ll tell you after I’ve eaten,” Stiles reached for it and burnt his hand and yelped. “Tell me about you,” Stiles wrapped his sleeve over his hand to pull the plate closer and grabbed the knife and fork from Derek’s other hand.

“There’s not a lot to tell.” Derek muttered.

“Good answer. Always leave ’em wanting more,” Stiles said through a mouthful of food. It burnt his mouth and but with the growl his stomach gave out he found he didn’t’ care.

“You’ll find that’s very much Derek all over.” Stiles looked up to see the Man who’d been so openly intrigued by Stiles’ arrival. 

“This is my uncle Peter,” Derek muttered and turned away to fill a glass at the sink on the opposite counter.

“So you’re here to do the threat assessment.” Stiles aid and gestured with his fork

“You made it in the front door. You passed,” Peter said, “I took the liberty of calling the hospital. Your father has caused quite the stir. All the nurses want to tell someone,” He said and then hesitated and Stiles realised he was holding his breath. 

“He woke up, half his burns have vanished and he’s expected to make a full recovery. They sedated him again but he was asking for you,” Peter explained.

“Good. That’s good,” Stiles said. He ducked his head and picked at the remaining food on his plate. 

“It is. For you both,” Peter said, “Once we’ve secured a preliminary agreement we can organise someone to go with you to visit him,”

“Thanks,”

“How’d you do it?” Derek asked. 

“Like the magic stuff?” Stiles asked. Derek nodded and glanced to Peter who gestured for him to continue.

“Mostly belief. My mom always said it’s your gut feeling about how things should work mixed with determination,” Stiles said and shrugged one shoulder, “Doesn’t always work,”

“And how have you stayed hidden until now?”

“A few runes keep the little stuff under the radar,” Stiles said and looked to his hands, “I’ve never tried anything like I did earlier,”

“Little stuff?” Peter asked.

“Coffee always the perfect temperature, pen never runs out in an exam, bus waits the extra two minutes when you’re running late,” Stiles said and shrugged, “Little stuff, doesn’t take much thought,”

“Well, you’re interesting to say the least,” Peter said, “Although I am not my sister and I won’t negotiate on her behalf, I believe we can offer you the same deal as the last spark who allied himself with the Hale pack,“ Peter said as he pulled a thin leather bound journal like book from his lap and set it on the table between them. He opened it to a string marked page and turned it towards Stiles. 

He scanned down the page and felt Derek hover at his side to read over his shoulder.

“A marriage to seal the alliance,” Stiles said. It wasn’t as bad at he’d imagined. 

“Traditionally, yes.”

“It’s archaic,” Derek said and Stiles was surprised by the indignity in his tone.

“The last spark in our pack’s history was over three hundred years ago,” Peter said and shot Derek a scolding look, “Prior to that sealing an alliance, specifically binding a spark to the pack would have offended far more of your sensibilities,”

“Are you going to agree to this?” Derek asked.

“If this is what your Alpha wants I really don’t have much choice. It’ll be part of a contract though,” He looked back to Peter, “I’ll have my own terms.” He said.

“What did you have in mind?” Peter asked.

“You have an emissary, I don’t who it is but you’ll have one right? They’ll be able to help me learn more, won’t they? And I need to be able to continue to see my Dad and my best friend,” Stiles said, “I hadn’t really thought about much after that,”

“That sounds reasonable so far,” Peter said.

“Will both parties be able to request to negotiate terms after it’s been signed?” Derek asked.

“You’d have to speak to your mother about that,” Peter said and then turned back to Stiles, “Does your father know about your abilities?”

“I don’t think he’d believe me if I told him,” Stiles said, “He always just thought mom had these odd eccentricities,”

“How did you expect to explain having to go into hiding?”

“I, I didn’t.”

“He’s the sheriff and he’s been in an accident,” Derek started, “Has he ever had any targeted attacks?” He asked, “Just thinking,” Derek said and shrugged.

“No. He,” Stiles started and then shook his head and ran a hand back through his hair, “There was a house fire. He was the closest and he went in to save some people trapped on the second floor,” Stiles tried to push the memories of the burns from his mind’s eye, “He doesn’t get threats. No-one’s come after us before,”

“We’ll have to work on your story then,” Peter said,

“Supernatural or not, an arranged marriage would be a hard pill to swallow.” 

“So is the death of his son.” Peter said.

“Wow I really appreciate that reminder. Maybe if I just tell him everything the both me and my mom ever kept from him and hope he doesn’t lock me up for the rest of my life,”

“Would he do that?” Derek asked.

“No. I’m kidding. He’s not like that,” Stiles said, waving off Derek’s concern, “As you can probably tell I’ve got a few things to work through. I haven’t taken my adderall in days, I’m not really on top form,”

“Write down your address, we can get anything you need,” Peter said and pushed a shopping list pad across the table and waved for Derek to grab a biro from across the counter. 

“Derek, Can I have a word?” Peter said and nodded for Derek to join him in the hallway.

Stiles waited until they’d left the kitchen and the door shut behind them and let out a long shaky sigh. He scribbled down his address and a brief description of where he kept his meds and dropped the pen to the table as his hands began to shake again.

“I am so in over my head.” He muttered and dropped his head into his hands.

 

In the end, he told his Dad everything as two members of the Hale pack stood guard at the hospital door. His Dad had demanded to speak to Talia Hale at which point one of the pack standing guard, Ellis, offered up his phone which was already ringing out. When his dad finally hung up he leant back against the pillows on the bed in shock.

“I’m going to need some time on this one,”

“Yeah, right.” Stiles said and pulled at his sleeve as he shot a look between his Dad and the door.

“I should probably, uh, go,”

“Hey,” His Dad started and then paused as he searched for the right words, “You’ve tried to tell me this before haven’t you?”

“Yeah,” Stiles said and nodded.

“I didn’t believe you,”

“I didn’t really expect you to.”

“Come here,” His dad said and held out both arms. Stiles all but threw himself into the hug and his dad held on just as tightly. “I should be the one protecting you, This is going to make you grow up too fast,”

“I’m okay Dad, promise,”

“Come back tomorrow okay,” His Dad said as they pulled away, “Call up one of the deputies to escort you down if there’s a problem. They won’t mind,”

“BHPD taxi service?” Stiles said which was met by a stern look from his Dad, “Yeah, I will do. See you soon, be a good patient,”

“Melissa wouldn’t let me be anything less,”

 

An arranged marriage wasn’t something that sat easy on his or his Dad’s mind, no matter how vocally determined he was to follow through after he’d explained his sorry state of affairs to his Dad. 

Stiles had remained under the pack’s protection for three days before it seemed Talia’s patience began to thin. Stiles had sat through a suspiciously subdued pack dinner and once all the plates were cleared away Talia took him for a walk around the wrap around porch. 

“I need you to make a decision tonight on who you will be married to,” Talia had started and Stiles’ mind had blanked until she’d led him back inside and towards the study. She ushered him inside the door and he found himself in a room of a dozen people. Some he knew, most he didn’t.

 

“Everyone in this room besides myself is unbonded and understands their duty to this pack should you choose them,” Talia explained. “The choice is yours,”

Stiles stuttered as his eyes darted from one face to another. Some looked nervous. Laura stood at the front, her place as the alpha in line. She stood proudly but kept her eyes levelled straight ahead of her. He caught another pack members eye who immediately swallowed and looked away. 

“I, I don’t know if I can do this,” Stiles said. His heart picked up speed and he took a step back towards the door just as someone stepped inside. Stiles turned on the spot to find Derek looking at him.

“I’ll do it,” Derek said quietly. 

“What?” Stiles asked.

“Derek.” Talia said in a scolding tone from beside them both. Derek glanced in her direction before looking back at Stiles steadily.

“I understand what it means. You don’t have to choose me if you don’t want to,” 

“I accept.” Stiles said. His voice was barely above a whisper but as everyone else in the room was a werewolf there wasn’t a chance it was missed. He heard several sighs from other pack members in the room and at least one person muttered _oh thank god_ under their breath. Stiles glanced black to Talia. She watched her son warily and a long pause stretched between them before she spoke.

“Very well.” Talia said. And turned away to wave the rest of the pack away. Most shot for the door at the other end of the room, casual touches of shoulders reassuring 

“I’d like to review the terms of the contract overnight and give you my answer in the morning if that’s alright.” Stiles asked. His dad had told him to say those exact words and he watched as Talia seemed not to hear him in favour of keeping her eyes on Derek.

“Of course. I won't rush you for an answer, I understand it will come soon enough,” Talia conceded. 

Stiles nodded and stepped around Derek and headed straight for the guest room where he intended to hide in solitude for the rest of the night. He fell face first onto the bed and buried his head in the pillow. He had half a mind to scream. 

A soft knock on the door had him on his feet immediately. He only opened it a crack to see Derek hesitant at the door. He looked at Stiles for a long moment without saying anything.

“I don’t want to force you into this,” Stiles started.

“I’m not being forced,” Derek answered quickly.

“Okay,” Stiles said. 

“I think you’re forcing yourself into this,” Derek said, his eyes trained on a patch of the door as he picked at his nails, “You could do better,”

“Like what?” 

“I don’t know,” Derek said and looked up to meet Stiles’ eye. Stiles huffed and turned on the spot, letting the door swing open.

“If you’re so worried about me then help me review this,” Stiles said. He grabbed the pages of contractual terms and waved them in Derek’s direction. “If you think I can do better you are more than welcome to make suggestions. Anyway shouldn’t you have a say on your side of things anyway, what you want from this,”

“I’m marrying you. That’s what I’ve agreed to,” Derek said, still hesitating just outside the door, “One day you might save my pack,”

“Fine but how about some ground rules y’know,” Stiles said as he dropped to sit on the bed. “Come on big guy, take a seat,” He waved Derek over to the spare seat at the desk. Derek took two steps inside and carefully shut the door behind him. 

“You seem more scared going into this than I am,”

“Maybe the worst is behind _you_.”

“Oh wow. Thanks. That isn’t the sort of thing to wreck a guy’s self-esteem at all,” Stiles said sardonically, “Why’d you agree to this anyway?”

“I owe it to my pack,” Derek said, and gestured towards Stiles, “You’re doing it cause you’re desperate,”

“All the more reason for us to stick together,” Stiles said, not sure if he was trying to convince himself or Derek more.“I guess you pictured you were going to marry for love then?” Stiles asked.

“Didn’t think I’d get married,” Derek said,

“Oh yeah. Doesn’t mean much to you then?”

Derek shrugged and then nodded to Stiles.

“What about you?” He asked.

“Had a pipe dream about being Lydia Martin’s trophy husband. Cheering her on as she picked up the field’s medal,” Stiles said and grinned at the scenario he’d first described to Scott years ago, “Considering we’re acquaintances at best it wasn’t exactly likely.” Derek snorted and Stiles reached for a pillow and threw it at him. Derek caught the pillow and dropped it to one side. 

“Nothing more rooted in reality?” Derek asked. 

“Dude reality sucks. I’m two months off finishing high school and the plan was to go to college on a scholarship,”

“Where?”

“UC Davis gave me a good offer and best financial aid support. They had a good forensic sciences program,”

“Laura had an offer from there,”

“Where’d she end up going?” Stiles asked.

“Law at Berkeley,”

“Shit,” Stiles said, “Pretty heavy going isn’t it?”

“She’s pretty level headed and she always thinks she’s right. Law was a good fit for her,”

“Must be nice to have a lawyer in the family,”

“She hasn’t had to represent any of us yet,”

“You just wait. I’ll soon be a part of your family and with my dad out of action…”

“Do you find yourself arrested often?” Derek asked and the hint of a smirk pulled at the corner of his lips.

“No, usually in the front seat to be honest, but I can no longer count how many times I’ve been in handcuffs,”

“Have they always been police issue handcuffs?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know.”

“I’m just getting the idea of what I’ve let myself in for.” Derek mused.

“Well, we’ve covered marriage ideals, college and barely scratched the surface of my poor life choices. Whose go is it on the twenty questions?”

“Depends if that counts as your go,” Derek said and levelled him with an unimpressed expression Stiles would have put money on covered up his amusement.

“Hey, no. That’s not fair. I had a good one for you next,”

“Too bad you missed your go.” Derek said and shrugged one shoulder.

“You didn’t even know we were playing until ten seconds ago!”Stiles yelled. Derek 's facade broke and a smile appeared.

“Fine. What do you want to know?” Derek asked 

“Ever had a pet?” Stiles asked.

“No, you?"

"Nope, always wanted a dog though, or a load of tropical fish,” Stiles said, “Okay my turn again.”

Derek waved him to go ahead, 

“Favourite colour?” Stiles asked

“Copper-orange,”

“Really?”

“Laura always hated orange,” Derek said.

“Huh, I figured you’d be like steel grey or navy blue or something,”

“What’s yours?”

“Ultramarine blue. Rarest colour in the world,”

“How can a colour be rare?”

“Google it, it’s true. It’s how it’s made for painting or something. It’s really hard to make large quantities,”

“And you like it because it’s rare?”

“No, I like it cause I like it,” Stiles said, “Just happens to be rare,”

“Like you,”

“I’m not rare. I just have a unique type of magic that’s hunted down by supernaturals and hunters alike. I’m special!” Stiles said and tipped his chin up in mock defiance. Derek snorted. 

“You could’ve fooled me,”

“Shut up, wolf boy.”

“Original.” Derek deadpanned, “Didn’t you want me to offer some opinion on your contract,” He gestured towards the papers set beside Stiles on the bed. Stiles grabbed them with one hand and cross the room to hand them to Derek.

“Have at it. I’ll probably think of something vital two minutes after signing it, y’know,” Stiles glanced out of the window as he looked up from Derek and caught sight of a huge blackwolf padding out from the forest towards the house. 

“Whoa,” Stiles stepped up closer to the window. “There’s a huge black wolf out there. Is it one of the pack?”

“That’s my mom.” Derek said without looking up.

“Seriously?”

“She’s the most powerful werewolf in North America,” Derek said. He tipped his head back to look at Stiles as he spoke. “You have to be to transform like that, most werewolves don’t think it can be done at all,”

“Wow.”

\--

The Hales breakfast routine seemed to stretch from before six until gone ten in the morning as different pack members awoke, or arrived in time to lift share to jobs across the town. Most of the pack that were up and moving about before seven had largely seemed far too focused on their food to look up for more than a second to nod or mutter good morning before they continued to eat. By the third morning he’d started to venture down after half past seven and he when the more familiar faces joined the table. Today he’d hesitated longer still. 

He’s waited in the guest room until gone nine and still the voices downstairs continued to chatter against the drone of the TV news in the background. He heard the front door shut behind two more pack members leaving and silently convinced himself that he’d been hiding long enough. 

Stiles held the pages of the contact in a tight grip as he stepped up to Talia at the head of the table. A half a dozen faces turned to look at him as he set the contract on the table beside her.

“There are a few comments but I’m going ahead with this,” He said. He glanced up to see the pack members present share looks and smiles with each other.

“The most extensive amendments will be my son’s no doubt,” Talia said as she flicked through the pages taking in the red pen marks across certain sections.

“Nice to know he’s looking out for me before he’s put a ring on my finger,” Stiles said lightly, “When you have time I’ll sign my life away to the protection of this pack if you’ll have me,”

Talia nodded and looked to her husband Quinn who set a heavy hand on Stiles’ shoulder 

“Welcome to the family.” He said and all around them, noise from the other pack members returned to fill the room. 

“Thanks.”

“When’s the wedding then my dear?” Quinn asked.

“The pack will be making themselves available for the celebration on the full moon.” Talia said. She didn’t look up but Stiles suspected that she’d already made her instructions known.

“I’m _not_ being a flower girl,” Cora moaned, her voice loud and shrill. 

“God, I wouldn’t want you to even if you did,” Derek said and Stiles looked up to see him leaning against the kitchen doorway. Laura jumped up from her seat, gripping Stiles’ shoulders as she passed.

“He’s **so** not a morning person,” Laura whispered to Stiles and pulled away to tackle her brother with a hug as he tried to retreat. A round of congratulations was called out to Derek until he turned tail and headed back into the kitchen with Laura.

“Full moon is in a week isn’t it?” A guy at the end of the table asked.

“A week on thursday, yes.” Talia replied.

“Will that be enough time?” Stiles asked as he took a free seat. Stiles was half certain that the pack members on either side of him were Juliet and Ellis

“A marriage licence can be acquired in that time relatively easily,” Peter said from across the table.

“Can we have fireworks?” The man, Ellis asked.

“What about the food?”

“Buffet style.” Quinn said, “Bring what you want,” 

“Officiator?”

“Mitchell could do it,” Talia said,

“Oh god not him,” Peter said with disgust, “He still calls Derek, Derwent,”

“Who would you rather bring in to this?” Talia asked

“Leave it with me.” Peter said and lounged back in his seat. Talia sighed and glanced around the table.

“Anyone who needs a lift into town this morning needs to be ready in five,” Ellis said breaking the silence in the room. He picked up he plate, cutlery and the leftover dishes of three other pack members who’d finished and headed out to the kitchen just as Derek and laura were coming back inside. Laura held the door open to him and Derek took his vacated seat.

“Have they decided how many kids were going to have yet?” Derek muttered.

“Nah, they still haven’t decided on who’s officiating,”

“Not Mitchell,” Derek said and shot a direct look at everyone sat around the table, “I’m not getting married if it’s Mitchell.”

“My wedding gift to you,” Peter said, “It won’t be Mitchell,” Derek glanced up and hummed before ducking his head back down and continued to eat his cereal.

“How do you feel about white swans?” Stiles asked. Derek looked up slowly and gave Stiles the stink-eye. “Glitter confetti? Disney themed?”

Across the table Laura coughed to cover a laugh. Stiles looked up and grinned at her. Derek glared across the table at her.

“I don’t think you’d like my opinion of where you can stick your suggestions,”

“Derek don’t be rude in front of a guest,”

“He’s not a guest, he’s my fiance,”

“You’ve got a lovely way of showing it,” Quinn said

“He could just as well be marrying for a greencard,” Derek said.

“Derek!” Laura yelled and Stiles caught Talia narrow her eyes in Derek’s direction. Derek shrank back and caught Stiles’ eye.

“Sorry,” He said, “I didn’t mean that,”

“Nah man it’s okay…” Stiles said and tried to wave off the offence.

“No, it’s not. I shouldn’t have said it,” Derek said and returned his gaze to his breakfast.

“Too right you shouldn’t asshole,” Laura said and chucked a spoon across the table at him.

“Yeah, Stiles is a catch,” Cora said as she picked up her own spoon to throw but was caught in the act by Laura.

“Where did you hear that?” Laura asked.

“Auntie Jess said it,” Cora sadi and relinquished the spoon in favour of pointing across the table to the woman Stiles thought was called Juliet.

“Traitor,” Jess hissed at Cora and turned and smiled to Stiles, “You’re really too young for me,”

“You might want to plead the fifth,” Stiles suggested.

“Good idea.” She said and nodded once.

“Change the subject...please,” Derek muttered into his breakfast.

“Right,” Stiles said and looked to Talia, “Did I mention I’ve still got my exams coming up?”

“When?”

“Uh, I’ve got some this week, uh two are the day after tomorrow and next week Monday, Wednesday, Thursday. I was kind of wondering if I should cancel and claim extenuating circumstances with my dad but they’d still expect me to turn up, like, a show of effort,”

“Write them on the wall calendar in the kitchen. If you want to go, we can have someone on hand,” Quinn said. “You can always retake in the fall right?”

“Yeah, I could,” Stiles said and nodded “Though college kind of fell out of the window when I did,” He waved his hands in front of him, “Y’know,”

“Not necessarily,” Derek said.

“We’ll see,” Talia said, “I know Dr Deaton would like to see you soon,”

“If he’s got exams he needs to revise,” Quinn said quietly to Talia. She looked at her husband and Stiles and then nodded once, 

“Dr Deaton will want to see you this week, but in your own time,” She conceded.

 

 

Stiles grabbed Scott’s shirt at the shoulder as the crowds buoyed them along out of the building after their exam. Scott had barely let him get a word in before the exam, full of questions about Stiles and his dad and he noticeable absence over the past couple of weeks.

“And mom keeps seeing you with the Hales, like, when did you ever have anything to do with them?” Scott asked as they finally broke free of the crush of people. 

“They’re just helping out,” Stiles said and shrugged. An uneasy feeling had come over him in the exam that he’d pushed away as exam nerves and still it gave him a vaguely nauseous feeling in his gut.

“You know you can stay with us if you don’t want to be on your own at home. You even have a key,” Scott said. 

“It’s just working out okay with them at the moment.” He said as he texted his dad to tell him he was finally exam free. His dad had hoped to be out by today, least of all to attend his son’s marriage but the doctors had wanted to keep him in for another weekend at least to monitor so odd test results. 

“S’pose they’ll be picking you up again,”

“Expect so,” Stiles said though as he scanned the roadside he couldn’t see and of the pack waiting for him as they normally did. 

His phone started vibrating in his hand and when he glanced down his dad was calling him back.

“Hey, another one bites the dust!”

“I’m proud of you. Listen I can’t get hold of Talia but I need you to stay away from the preserve,”

“What? Why?”

“There’s been a second mountain lion attack up on the preserve. Not half a mile from the Hale House, Melissa’s told me they’ve just rushed two people through here. Someone else didn’t make it,” His dad said.

“Who was injured?”

“I don’t know.” His dad said, “Who’re you with now?”

“Scott’s here, we just got out of school,” Stiles said. 

“Go back to his. Wait there. I need to get more information from the station. 

“Yeah, sure. I’ll be careful, promise.”

“I’ll call you when I know more,” His dad said, “Bye kiddo,”

“Yeah, love you,”

“Love you too. Stay safe.” His dad said and hung up. In seconds Stiles was searching through his contacts for the numbers he had for the Hales

“There’s been another mountain lion attack up on the preserve,” Stiles told Scott as he called Derek and when he didn’t pick up he called Laura and then Ellis and Peter. All four phones rang out until they clicked over to voicemail.

“Shit. We need to get up there.” He grabbed Scott’s arm and dragged him towards the road. His jeep was still up at Hale house but the bus could get them to half a mile away.

“You’re kidding, right?”

“Something’s happened and at least three of the Hales aren’t picking up. What if there were more than three people attacked?”

“Then we shouldn’t go looking to get attacked!” Scott yelled and then froze and looked around when he realised how loud he’d spoken. Stiles stared back at him and Scott bit his bottom lip.

“Fine, just... “ He held Stiles still by the shoulders as he scanned the crowd behind him, “Hey Allison! Can I ask you a favour?” He called out.

Stiles could barely sit still as Allison drove at exactly the speed limit for the twenty minutes it took to get through the school traffic and up to the preserve. They were on the road out of the town when she asked why they were heading up there.

“There was a mountain lion attack. We think there might be more people in trouble up here,”

“Won’t the police be up there looking for them,”

“No. Look here’s fine. We can-,” Stiles said and stopped as Allison braked hard.

“There’s a mountain lion out there that’s been attacking people and you want to walk!”

“Are you going to drive us any further?” Stiles asked.

“Are you trying to get yourselves killed?” Allison said turning in her seat to confront him

“Right,” Stiles said with a sharp nod. He grabbed the door handle and stepped out, pulling his rucksack with him as Scott and Allison both yelled their protests. 

He was already a dozen steps away from the car up the bank of the road and into the trees when he heard Scott open his door to follow him.

“You don’t even know where you’re going from here!” Scott shouted.

“I’m following my bad feeling!” He shouted back. 

He knew the general direction of the Hale house and he kept trying to dial different members of the Hale pack whenever he reached a break in the trees and his phone picked up a bar or two of a phone signal. Scott kept shooting looks around the trees and back to Stiles. 

They’d been walking for about ten minutes when Derek finally picked up.

“Where are you?” Derek asked before Stiles had a chance to offer a greeting.

“Why weren’t you picking up your phone?”

“Stiles.”

“I’m in the preserve with Scott. Heading for the house. We heard there was a cougar attack up here and _none of you were answering your phones._ Is everyone safe?”

“It wasn’t a cougar. It’s a rogue alpha. Get away from the preserve.”

“And what about you?”

“I was coming to get you!” Derek said, his words spoken through gritted teeth by the sound of it. “Look, whatever you do just don’t-”. Derek started and the line beeped and went dead. He looked back at his phone to see the no signal symbol flashing in the corner of the screen. 

Stiles raised the phone back to his ear in the blind hope that Derek would finish his sentence. He shot Scott a look.

“What?” Scott asked, “What did he say?”

“It’s really not likely that the cougar stuck around," Stiles said, "They don’t like being around people anyway,”

“And the Hales?” Scott asked

“He didn’t say.” Stiles said. “He didn’t say anything helpful. He’s a very unhelpful person Scott!”

“Let’s just head for the house, okay,” Scott said. “Hey, there’s someone over there,” Before Stiles could stop him Scott had called out to them. Stiles turned to search the trees for the person Scott had seen. 

“Scottie, bad plan.” Stiles shoved a hand against Scott’s chest and tried to push him back. Scott stumble back a step then frowned back at him.

“But they could be lost or injured.”

“Give it five minutes, so could we," Stiles muttered, “Trust a guy’s bad feeling okay,”

“You wanted to come out here.”

“Which was a very bad plan. You can hold it over my head for a month at least,”

“Hello?” Stiles winced as the voice of the stranger called back to them. He turned on eh spot and stood just ahead of Scott between them and the approaching stranger.

“Hi!” Scott called back, “Are you okay? Were you with the campers up here?”

“No, but I think I’m a little off track. I’m looking for an old pack house up here,”

“The only house this far out is the Hale house. We’re heading there now,” Scott said. 

“Really?” 

“If it’s not the place you’re looking for they’ll have a map or a better idea of where you might want to be,”

“Thanks boys,” The man said, “Much appreciated. I don’t suppose you know if there have been any additions to the Hale family recently,”

“Stiles has been hanging out up there recently, he’d probably know best,”

“I only go up there to see Derek,” Stiles said and shrugged, “There are a lot of people, I’ve probably only met half of them,”

“You never told me that,” Scott said.

“Well I was going to,” Stiles said pointedly. 

The house came into view up ahead of them through the trees and Stiles felt his heart sink again. He slid his phone up his sleeve and then began to pat down his pockets.

“Shit. I think I’ve dropped my phone,” He said and threw out an arm to stop Scott in his tracks. 

“Dudę seriously.”

“Yeah, I can’t find it. It must have come out of my pocket walking up those banks. The pockets on these jeans are crap,”

“Right yeah. Should I call it?” Scott asked.

“It’s on silent from the exam. Just help me look.” Stiles insisted and caught Scott's sleeve to pulled him back for a breif moment out of sight of the guy just ahead of them.

“Yeah, sure.” Scott said. 

“Hey buddy, could you give us a hand. It’s a silver HTC. I must have dropped it since we met you so…” Stiles said. His pitched his voice a little louder to both try and catch the guy's attention and that of anyone up at the house who migth be listening. He thought back to how he was surrounded the second he arrived and now of all times the house would be barely occupied.

“I think I’ll head up to the house boys,”

“Come on man!” Stiles called out, a little louder than necessary.

“Could you ask them if anyone can come out and help?” Scott asked. 

“Gladly.” The man said without turning around.

Stiles waited until he was a dozen steps away and grabbed Scott by the sleeve and dragged him further away from the house. 

“Hey, shouldn’t we be checking for your phone back here,” Scott asked, “Did we even come past here?”

“Do you remember the crickets that ended up in Jackson’s car after he stole your shoes?” Stiles asked and he glanced around the woodland for suitable cover; Nothing was going to help for long.

“Yeah,” Scott said and nodded slowly.

“Harris getting attacked by crows?” He asked again. He let his magic surface briefly a wish for help that he knew the moment he'd used it had called out his position like a beacon to teh rogue werewolf.

“What has that…” Scott started to ask, frowning.

“And when your dad fell through the floor when he was about to hit you,” Stiles asked.

“Yes, but what are you talking about?” Scott asked sharply and all but stopped in his tracks as Stiles swung around to look at him.

“Something really weird is going to happen that you can write off as karma, okay.” Stiles said, “Look I need you to walk in that direction, fast. But don’t run.” 

“Are you hallucinating again?” Scott asked

“Scottie, trust me.” Stiles said.

“What. The. Hell.” Scott said an edge in his voice told him that Scott knew things weren’t okay.

“I don’t have time to explain,” Stiles said quickly as he tired to push him on and waya from the house.

“No Stiles,” Scott said, his eyes trained over Stiles’ shoulder and Stiles turned slowly on the spot to see a half transformed Alpha stood on its hind legs at the ridge of the bank they’d just come down. Stiles froze and stood fully in front of Scott.

“Whatever you do don’t run.” Stiles said.

“Are you crazy?” Scott asked. His voice a rasp. The alpha growled and tipped it’s head back and howled.

“Scottie, you will not outrun that thing,” Stiles snapped.

“You know what it is!” Scott asked and Stiles couldn’t answer. The rogue fell down onto all fours and barrelled down the slope towards them. All Stiles could hear was his heart in his ears. The rogue’s blood red eyes focussed directly on them until it skidded on the slope, the leaves slipping until it’s feet and it slid down the bank and at full force into a tree past them. 

“Stiles crouched down and pressed his hand against the earth and shut his eyes tight as he believed that there could be something to separate them from almost certain death. 

“Oh my God,” Scott said from behind him and he opened his eyes to see a circle of wolfsbane and mountain ash covering the ground around them. 

“Don’t step outside the circle.”Stiles told him.

“I don’t know what the hell is going on,” Scott said as the rogue alpha pulled itself to its feet and Stiles briefly wished that he’d had the thought to trap the rogue in one place rather than themselves.

He heard the crunch of leaves as Scott took a step back and he turned on the spot to pull him back to the centre of the circle.

“That’s a werewolf. Specifically, a rogue werewolf that wants to either rip us to pieces or turn us into werewolves as part of its pack. Neither of those options is good. It can’t get past the ash circle so you’ve got to stay inside the circle okay,”

“How do you know that?” Scott asked.

“I have magic.” Stiles said. He flinched as the rogue threw itself at the barrier and was thrown backwards only for it to try again. He glanced back at Scott’s blank expression. Stiles saw his breathing pick up and he searched Scott’s face for a clue of what he needed.

Scott crumpled, his hands on his knees as the rogue werewolf circled them again. 

“I can’t breathe. Stiles, I can’t breathe,”

“Where’s your inhaler?” Stiles asked as he frantically searched Scott’s outer pockets.

“I don’t know,” Scott said.

“Shit. Okay, try to take deep breaths, okay?” Stiles pulled his rucksack from his back and rummaged through it for something he could use. The rogue threw itself against the barrier again and the impact made them both startle.

“Seriously!” Stiles yelled as the werewolf stumbled back only to look as though it would try again. “Some of us are trying to concentrate on not dying!”

As he yelled a dark blur came shooting out of the trees to knock the rogue back on its feet. Talia bared her teeth and let out a low growl which certainly caught the rogue’s attention. It heaved itself to its feet and launched itself at her.

“Hey, Stiles, are you alright?” He turned to see Laura and half a dozen other members of the pack skidding down the bank and from the trees to join the fight. Laura paused and glanced down at the barrier around them

“Scott’s not good.” He said as he tried to pull Scott to his feet.

“Hold on okay,” Laura said as she glanced towards the fight that was pressing further into the trees as the pack advanced, “Get him back to the house, We’ll keep it busy,” She said and shot after the pack and the rogue werewolf.

Stiles looked between her and Scott.

“Okay, now we need to move,” Stiles said, “My car’s at the house and we can get you to the hospital. It’s like a hundred metres, we can do this. The Hales are going to take care of… that,”

“Stiles-” Scott started but Stiles cut him off.

“Nope, don’t want to hear it. We’re getting you out of here,” Stiles said. He hooked Scott’s arm over his shoulders and pulled him up. “You concentrate on deep breaths and I’ll worry about the rest okay?”

Although Stiles could hear yelps and cries from behind them he kept going. Scott was able to take most of his own weight and finally, they reached the house and Stiles’ jeep parked out the front. Scott leant against the hood of the car as Stiles scrambled to get his keys from his pocket. 

“Stiles!” Stiles’ attention shot up towards Derek's shout. Peter and Derek sprinted around the side of the house towards them. “Look out!”

Stiles turned just in time to see a werewolf running straight for them across the front yard. He threw out a hand believing that he could stop the werewolf in some way and a force seemed to ripple through the air towards it. It knocked it off kilted as it launched itself into the air and instead of taking Stiles out it knocked Scott to the ground. Scott screamed and Stiles barely had time to react as Derek ploughed into the werewolf and pushed into the Jeep so hard it rocked up a foot off the ground. Stiles dropped to his knees next to Scott to try and drag him up. Blood covered Scott’s shoulder and t-shirt and Stiles hoped it was only a cut rather than any broken bones.

Scott yelled as Stiles tried to pull him to his feet but as Derek and Peter laid into the rogue werewolf there was little hope of escape in the jeep. He managed to get Scott to his feet and steadied him as he watched the fight happening just over his shoulder.

Stiles could barely keep track of who was landing the most hits when the rogue werewolf seemed to fall to its knees and both Hales pulled back to let him fall as they shot each other a look.

“Where are the others?” Peter asked looking at Stiles. Behind him Derek braced himself against the Jeep, his head dropped low.

“They headed into the forest after him, He must have doubled back,” Stiles said, “Or there are two of them,”

“No. Only one” Laura called out as she came out of the forest first only slightly ahead of Talia who appeared to be limping in her wolf form and the other half a dozen members of the pack who all seemed to be in various states of disarray and covered in blood and dirt. There was a rather messy trap he led us into,”

Peter set a hand on Derek’s shoulder and they shared a quiet conversation that Laura joined as she jogged over. Derek shot a look over his shoulder to Stiles and held his gaze for a moment long enough that Stiles wanted to turn him round to face him fully and check for damage. 

“Stiles,” Scott said, “I think I need to sit down,”

“Right now or do you want to make in inside?” Stiles asked. His attention snapped back to Scott.

“I’ve got him,” Jess said as she appeared at Scott’s other side. She shot Stiles a smile. “Hi I’m Jess, did you have the exam with Stiles today?” She asked and when Scott nodded they began walking around the back of the Jeep to the house, out of view of the dead rogue alpha lying in the driveway. Stiles tried to glance back to Derek but he was out of sight.

“It was chem, right?” Jess asked as they helped Scott up the front steps and inside the house, “I tried to help Stiles revise but it was a nightmare. I’m really better with biology and physiology,” She said.

“Scott and I tried to learn the periodic table song a few years back,” Stiles said and elbowed Scott’s side gently as they helped him into a chair in the front room.

“Stiles kept making up elements that rhymed,” Scott added

“No-one really needs to know the periodic table,” Stiles said bluntly.

“Forensic scientists do,” Jess said.

“There’s always google,” Stiles said, “And there’s always someone who actually does know the periodic table,”

“Yeah, there’s a genius in every family somewhere.” Jess said with a smile to herself as she pulled off her jacket and threw it over the back of a chair, “Can I take a look at this?” Jess asked as she touched Scott’s shoulder.

“Yeah,” Scott said. He winced hard when Jess tried to peel the t-shirt away from the newly dried blood.

“I think I just hit it when I fell,” Scott said.

“It probably looks worse than it is,” She said but shot Stiles a look which said otherwise and then focussed on Scott, “Let’s clean it up and then maybe get a doctor to have a proper look.” Stiles steeled himself against the rising sickening feeling in his stomach at the sight of Scott’s blood and saw was Jess was concerned about. A jagged ring of marks over his shoulder and upper arm. 

“Hey buddy, are you going to be okay if I just go and check in out there?” Stiles asked and nodded towards the front yard.

“That thing is dead right?” Scott said quickly.

“Yeah,” Stiles said definitely, “I’ll be right back. Ten minutes max okay,”

“Yeah, yeah I’m okay,” Scott said. Stiles nodded and stepped out into the hallway. He took a minute to himself to take a deep breath to try and steady himself before he stepped back out to the front of the house.

A few of the pack were sat along the front porch and he walked past Peter and Talia at the perfect time to see him pushing her shoulder back into its socket with a loud crack.

“Is everyone alright?” Stiles asked.

“Nothing we haven’t seen and faced off before,” Talia said, “How is your friend?”

“Jess is in there with him. I think he’s been bitten,”

“What does he know about werewolves?” Talia asked, her expression tight and piercing.

“Nothing apart from what he’s just seen,” Stiles said and Talia let out a long breath.

“Well it couldn’t be much worse.” Peter said with a humourless laugh, “Excuse me, I need to pick up some of our wedding guests from the station,”

“We’re still having the wedding?” Stiles asked.

“Turning guests away now would not be the impression we wish to give,” Talia said firmly. Stiles caught himself before he let him mouth run off about sensitivity and posturing but he knew from Talia's expression she was likely expecting it.

“Where’s Derek?” Stiles asked quickly. 

“Around back with Laura.” Peter said, “Be careful with him,”

“Uh, right,” Stiles said. When he turned back Talia had already started walking away to check in with her beta’s. He circled the house to the back yard and found Laura and Derek sharing a bench at the edge of the trees. 

He hesitated at the corner when he saw they were sat thigh to thigh. Derek had his fists balled in his lap. Stiles realised his mistake in intruding and was about to retreat when Derek looked up and saw him. not a moment later Laura looked up, following Derek's gaze. Laura said something to her brother and pushed herself up from the bench and shot across the grass towards him.

“Are you alright?” She asked as she grabbed him and pulled him into a hug.

“I’m fine. Are you, are you guys okay?” Stiles asked and shot a glance across the yard to Derke who pointedly looked the other way.

“I’m okay. Derek’ll need some time,” Laura said,

“I take it he’s pissed,”

“More like conflicted, He's a little keyed up, I'm sure you could help,” She said and then after a moment she turned and glared at Derek, “Fuck off yourself!”

“I’ll um, give him some time,” Stiles said.

“Nope, now is good,” Laura sid and grabbed him by the shoulders and shoved him towards Derek. “It’ll be a good bonding exercise.” She said and headed towards the back door.

Stiles stared after her as she left and then looked at Derek who was sullenly staring at the floor.

“Don’t tell me you’re speechless now?” Derek muttered.

“Honestly, I’m waiting for someone to tell me that I screwed up,” Stiles admitted. He scuffed his foot on the ground and realised there was blood splatter across most of his shoe and low trouser leg.

“That makes two of us,” Derek said.

“Scott’s been bitten, or I think he has. I told him I’d be back in like ten minutes so-," Stiles trailed off, not really sure how Laura expected him to help.

“Teenagers have a better chance of accepting the bite,”

“How much better, cause I still feel like I’m going to walk int here to watch him die y’know, and either way I have to tell his Mom that I let him out here on a mountain lion chase,”

“I killed that alpha,” Derek said quietly.

“Yeah, no that’s like the opposite of screwing up. Shouldn’t you be waiting for the _well done Derek you saved us all_ congratualations?” Stiles asked 

“I’m an alpha now,” Derek said, “They can all feel it.” He said nodding towards the house.

“Which means what exactly?” Stiles asked. he took a careful step forward and tried to remember what little he knew about the power dynamics. 

“That I screwed up.” Derek said. He pushed himself up from the bench and turned towards the trees. “Go see your friend, and you’ll want to pick someone else to marry,” Derek snapped.

“No.” Stiles said. He surprised himself with the firmness of his own voice but Derek looked equally surprised.

“This isn’t something to argue about. I can’t stay here, you can’t have two alphas in a pack without trouble,” Derek explained.

“Then I guess you need another option don’t you,” Stiles shot back in return.

“There isn’t another option.” Derek said sharply.

“You’re wrong.” Stiles said, “You haven't screwed up yet but you’re going to if you..” Derek turned on his heel to face Stiles and cut him off.

“If I do what?” Derek snapped, “Bite you, challenge my Mom, pull this pack apart?”

“...If you walk away. You’ll screw up if you walk away,” Stiles said. 

“I don’t have a choice,” Derek said. Stiles' heart lurched.

“I’m your choice.” Stiles said, "You're going to choose me, and this pack and we are going to work this out. I'm going to work this out,"

“And what’re you going to do?” Derek asked. Scepticism laced his words but Stiles didn't care .

“Probably screw up but here goes nothing.” He grabbed the front of Derek’s shirt and pressed his other hand to the bare skin of Derek’s neck and collarbone where his t-shirt had been torn in the fight.

“Do you want to be an alpha?” Stiles asked as he looked Derek straight in the eye.

“No.” Derek said and shook his head. Stiles suddenly realised that Derek looked scared more than anything. 

“Then I guess we’re going to find out what Sparks can do,” Stiles said. He shut his eyes and believed that somehow he could balance out Derek’s power. That whatever wills gave him these abilities could take the alpha power from Derek. As his magic reached towards Derek he felt it buck and resist where he pushed it. 

It felt like a dam breaking and Derek’s alpha power bubbled at the surface like a cooking pot set too high. Its contents bubbled over Stiles felt it flood him with a burning power that wrapped tightly into the core of his own magic and burst through him in electric pulses. 

Stiles opened his eyes to see Derek’s eyes flash gold and he quickly pulled his hands away.

“Oh boy that’s a rush!” Stiles said as he braced himself on his knees.

“Mr Stilinski!” Stiles looked up towards the house to see Doctor Deaton rushing down the steps to the yard. The movement made his head spin and he blinked as he tried to get his balance.

“Yes Doc.” He called back though with his head spinning he couldn't bring himself to look up again.

“Do you have any idea what you’ve just done?” Deaton scolded him but even though Stiles knew he was being shouted at the word seemed faint.

“Nope,” Stiles said and as he moved to take a step towards the bench his legs gave out and his vision went black.

 

He woke up lying on a sofa with a thumping headache and a burning pain in his lower back and up his left side.

He groaned and tried to roll over only to find himself wedged in with cushions. 

“You probably don’t want to move too much,” Derek said and Stiles leant his head to one side to see Derek sat on the floor, his back against the sofa and reading one of Stiles’ revision textbooks.

“I’m in too much pain to move,” Stiles said as he threw an arm over his eyes and let out a long breath.

“I meant if you move about too much Mom and Deaton will know you’re awake and will come back to question you,” Derek said.

“Is there a lock on the door?” Stiles asked.

“Yeah,” Derek said. Stiles willed it shut and the satisfying click rang out not a second later.

“Should you be using your magic for that?” Derek asked.

“Always have.”He said, thinking back to all the times he’d locked or opened doors to avoid trouble.

“The bite has taken with your friend. He’s sedated right now but he’s going to wake up a werewolf,” Derek said.

“That sucks,” Stiles said, “Nothing against you guys but..”

“Mom’s not happy either,” Derek added.

“Is your mom ever happy?” Stiles asked, “Like I know where you get your frowning and scowling from but seriously,”

“Maybe it’s just when we’re around you,” Derek said and Stiles could hear the amusement in his voice. 

“Asshole,” Stiles said and threw out an arm to shove at him but only succeeded in over stretching a painfully tense muscle, “Ow,”

Derek reached up and caught his forearm and the pain seemed to seep away.

“Ugh, you’re forgiven. This time,” Stiles conceded.

“Nice to know you two are getting along.” Dr Deaton’s voice came from the other side of the room.

“You could have told me there were two doors,” Stiles grumbled.

“You didn’t ask.” Derek said, “Should I go?” Derek asked Deaton. Deaton shook his head.

“I need to speak to both of you about the stunt you pulled,” Dr Deaton started. Stiles felt his headache pulse stronger but shoved himself to sit up and listen regardless. 

“I take it the whole de-alpha-ing this was a stupid idea in practice,” Stiles said

“Reckless would be a better word, though at this point there is little point beyond theatrics for this wedding you have planned,”

“What actually happened?” Derek asked.

“Stiles linked your wolf to his spark, His brand of magic is dangerous at best and based on subjective belief alone which flawed at best and he removed the alpha power you had within you in a way that could have consequences we cannot imagine."

“I don’t feel any different.” Stiles said.

“Then we will have to wait and see.” Dr Deaton said, “Mr Stilinski, I do expect to see you in my office within the next few days. I have promised Talia to design a program to better develop and manage these skills or yours,”

“Right, yeah. Planning on it,” Stiles said and mock saluted him.

“And you’ll need some new protection runes. Your current defences are far from adequate now you share this bond,” Deaton said but before Stiles or Derek could ask anything else he’s left them to each other’s company.

Stiles pulled the runes out by the string around his neck. All three had cracks running through the wood which divided each symbol.

“Wait, does he means we need to go to some couples craft session?” Stiles asked

“Basket weaving or pyrography?” Derek asked. Stiles snorted and then groaned and threw his head back into the cushion as his headache flared up again.

\--

The house was quiet except for a few errant snores and Stiles lay awake his mind racing. Finally, he pushed the covers off and grabbed his hoodie from the chair by the door. He was careful on the stairs but still, they creaked in a way that cut through the quiet. He winced but no-one came out to investigate so he headed down into the kitchen to get a glass of water. Tomorrow was going to be their big day,

As he crossed the kitchen he caught sight of Derek outside the kitchen door and diverted towards him.

“Hey, good to know I’m not the only one who can’t sleep.” Stiles said as he pushed the door shut carefully behind him.

“Is it cause we’re connected?” Derek asked and huffed, “I know tomorrow, the wedding and everything should be important but… I don’t want it to be just another false part of whatever this is,” 

“Are we still calling it false? Cause I did tie us together in some weird bond that apparently only Deaton seems to be able to identify that has had zero effects on us so far,” Stiles said, “Sorry about that by the way, for whatever mysterious effects await us,”

“I don’t mind,” Derek said and smiled as he ducked his head, “Thank you.”

“I’m okay going into this with you, y’know,” Stiles said, “Admittedly we could do with some more time and for it to be a little less contractual, but I’m okay with it.” Stiles said, “I kind of hope you are too,”

“Yeah, I’m okay with it,” Derek said.

“Maybe that’s the terrible effect, y’know,” Stiles said, “Being okay with being with each other.” A pause stretched between them until a chill breeze made Stiles shiver and he pulled his hoodie around him closer.

“You did decide to stand outside in the middle of the night,” Derek said and his look held a hint of amusement, “Are you going back to bed or staying up a little longer?”

“I still don’t think I can sleep.” Stiles said and leant forwards on the railing.

“Wait here.” Derek said and turned to head towards the house.

“Are you getting a blanket?” Stiles asked. Derek didn’t reply as the door swung shut behind him and he headed back into the kitchen. Stiles heard him shuffling around the kitchen and a couple of cupboard doors shut. 

He leant against the bannister and stared out into the darkness of the woods. Pockets of fireflies hovered over the bracken. Tomorrow seemed an age away and all too close at the same time. The night could stretch out forever and he wouldn’t mind so much.

The door clicked behind him and he looked up to see Derek with a blanket slung over one shoulder and two bowls in his hands. Each bowl with a generous portion of apple pie and custard. 

“Midnight dessert?” Stiles asked, reaching out eagerly for one of the bowls..

“Cora’s hidden the hot chocolate mix,” Derek said and shrugged one shoulder.

“No, this is better,” Stiles said as he began to cut it with his spoon. Derek balanced the other bowl on the railing while he pulled the blanket from over his shoulder and draped it over Stiles. 

“Thanks.” Stiles said. The warmth of the desert seemed to fill him up from deep in his gut and up through his chest.

“We’re lucky there’s any dessert left. It’s probably only been left because this was someone’s contribution to the buffet tomorrow,”

“I’d take food over wedding gifts any day,” Stiles said and he scooped up a large chunk of the pie 

“How’s your Dad?” Derek asked.

“He’s doing ok. Not happy about this,” Stiles gestured between the two of him with his spoon, “But no turning back now,” Stiles said, “Y’know I’m sorry you’re having to do this too, right?”

“I know.” Derek said and nodded

They finished their dessert and Stiles stifled a yawn. 

“We should head in,” Derek said. He took Stiles’ empty bowl from him and held the door for him and he shuffled back inside, pulling the blanket with him so it didn’t get caught as the door swung shut behind them. The climbed the stairs in an easy silence and on the first-floor landing Stiles turned to say something more to Derek when a gasp caught their attention from the floor above

“You two aren’t supposed to see each other on the wedding day!” Laura exclaimed and Stiles and Derek both startled to see her at the top of the stairs

“Does that mean we’re going to have put it off for another time?” Derek asked.

“Don’t be ridiculous.” Laura said, “Everyone's going to be here for the full moon tomorrow.”

“You’d never be so lucky,” Stiles said and elbowed Derek’s side. 

“Had to try.” Derek said and shared a smile with Stiles, “Night,”

“Night Derek,”

\--

Author’s note: I’m not going to say they lived happily ever after because it’s Beacon Hills. In fact, there’s a lot of fairly nightmarish supernatural happenings that occur far too often. But until the next story runs away with this poor writer you can remain convinced that they survive their trials


End file.
